Direction signal for motor vehicles



I. G. HIEB.

DIRECTION SIGNAL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES` APPLICATION HLED 1ULY11, 1921.

1,416,027. Patented May' 16,1922,

ff JNVENTOR 'rlwlf 61. HL'Q? BYQ mi .ATToRNEY the three possible i e i.i u, f

Afa rc JACOB G. HIEB, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORTLA.

DIRECTON SIGNAL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, JACOB G. Hirn, a citizen of the'United States,residing at Oakland, county of Alameda, State of California, haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Direction Signals forMotor Vehicles; and I doVdec-lare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and tothe characters of reference marked thereon, which form`a part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in direction signals for motorvehicles, to be used for giving signals in place of the hand asordinarily employed.

The principal object lof this invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which may be extended to any one of three positions-at anupward angle,` horizontally, or at a downward angle, and which whenneutral or not in use will fold up or contract to occupy but a verylittle space.

A further object is to provide a hand actuating means for the signalwith but asingle hand#moved.y member for both extending the signal andfor moving it to any one of lected at will.

further object of the invention is to proy duce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet o-newhich will be exceedingly effective 'for' thepurposes which 'it is designed. hese objects I accomplis by means ofsuch lstructure and relative arrangement of parts 'as will fully appearby a perusal of the following specifica-tion and claims.

In the drawings similar' characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views. v

1y is a perspective outline of the driving compartment of an automobile,showing my improvedy signalinstalled thereon, the signal being in ahorizontally extended position.

Fig. 2 is a detached elevation of the signal and its operatingmechanism,"placed in alinement for the sake of convenience' of showingthe operation, the signal being extended horizontally'in full lines, andcon` erronea in dotted lines.

` 3 'is a similar view,'the signal being extended and positioned at a.downward angle to a horizontal plane.

' lReferring now more particularly vto the positions, as may be se--Specicationkof Letters Patent. Pajgnted May 15, 1922o 19,21. serial No.483,655.

This casing is an enclosure throughout,

except at its outervertical end, where 'it is open, as at 1a. y

Pivotally mounted in the casing is the signal memberv 3, made of aplurality of short metal strips 4, all pivotally connected together toform a structure commonly known as a. lazy tongs, which isl such thatapressure on the ends will contract the same so that all the bands liesubstantially against and parallel to each other, and a pulling force onsaid ends will expand or causeV an ext`ension of the structure. The sameeffect is gained by making the bands 5 at the inner end of the structurefree 'at their outer ends, when ay force-tending to cause such ends tomove apart will contract the structure, and a f driving together of suchlends will extend the same. The pivotal connection of the signalstructure with the casing is preferably had where the bands or arms 5cross casing is pivotally a short lazy tongs structure 9, consisting ofapair of crossed arms 10, pivoted to the casing at their intersec* tionyas at 11. The ends of the arms 10 nearest the arms 5 are connected tothe latter in crossed relation by flexible wires 12, enclosed inflexible tubing 13, in order that said wires may be pushed on and impartmovement to the arms 5 without buckling.

i The opposite yends of the arms 10 are connected to each other by shortlinks 14: which intersect and are pivoted together at that point,.suclipivotal connection being formed with a handle projecting Athrough athree? way slotv 16 in the casing 7. This slot has threeportions A, andC, converging at the end thereof farthest' from the pivotal mounting 11of the structure 9. The portion A extends in 'the plane of n a linepassing through the axial points 11 and 15; the portion B branchesto oneside of the portion A, and at an acute angle thereto,`tlie portion C yanequal distance and angle on the other vside i of the portion A. Theportions B and C are preferably curved somewhat and all the saidportions terminate in substantially a common plane at right angles tothe axial plane aforementioned.

Fixed in the casing 7 intermediate the points 11 and 15 is ay pin 17,projecting into the path of movement of the arms 111.

In order that the signal may be visible at night, an electric light 18may be mounted at the outer end of the structure 3, which may be wiredin a circuit in any suitable manner, and which with the signal 3, willbe concealed within the casing 1 when the signal is contracted. `When inthe latter position, the signal may be further protected against dustetc. by means of a springhinged door 19 on the casing and normallyclosing the opening 1a.

rlhis door is automatically opened by the extending movement of thesignal 3, and closes of itself when the signal is withdrawn into thecasing.

rl"he operation of the device is as follows -lVhen the handle 15 ismoved outwardly to the point of convergence of the horizontal plane.

slot-portions, the arms 1() will be symmetrically positioned withrespect to the axial line between the points 11 and 15, and will then bemoved close together and away from the handle.

A pushing pressure is thus imparted to the wires 12 causing the arms 5to be spread apart, which in turn causes the signal 3 to be fullycontracted and lie concealed in the casing 1. lNhen the handle 15 isthen pushed the length of the slot A, the signal 3 will be extendedhorizontally since as the slot A lies in the plane of a line drawnthrough the points 11 and 15, the movement imparted to the arms 10 willbe equal. l/Vhen the handle is retracted however to the lpoint ofconvergence of the slots and then moved into one of the branches, as forinstance the portion C, as shown in Fig. 3, the arm 10 then opposite tosaid slot C is prevented from but slight movement by reason of itsstriking against the pin 17. The expanding or extending movement to andthe corresponding arm 5 on the signal is likewise held against movement.The majority of the ex} ianding or extending movement of the signal 53is therefore had with the movement of the other arm 1() and thecorresponding signal-arm 5 alone, causing the signal to be not .onlyfully extended to lie at a considerable downward angle with respect to alith the movement of the handle 15 through the slot B, the reverseconditions obtain, and the signal is extended to lie at an upward angle.

On account of the flexibility of thewires 12.V it makes no difference inthe operation ofthe device as to the relative positions of the members 3and 9, as long as the wires 12 comprising a lazy tongs cross at somepoint in their extent, so as to connect relatively opposed ones of thearms 5 and 10. l

rlhe arms 5 and 10 can be connected direct without crossing the wires,but with such a lay-out the signal is turned down when the handle ismoved into the right vhand slot B, which is not desired, since amovement of the handle to the right should also indicate a turn of thevehicle to the right, which would not be the case with such anarrangement of the wires. Also, for a given amount of extension of the'signal, the angle of setting obtained would be too great forconvenience.

From the foregoing description 1t will be readily seen that 1 haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

llVhile this specification sets forth 1n detail the present andpreferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviationsfrom such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from thespirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A direction signal for motor vehicles signal structure pivoted to afixed member of the vehicle, and a hand actuated means for contractingand extending said structure and for giving the same any one of a numberof predetermined angular settings in a common vertical plane while soextending said structure.

2. A direction signal for motor vehicles comprising a lazy-tongsstructure pivoted to f y nal has been so extended the angular positioncannot be altered until the signal is again contracted. y

3. A direction signal for motor vehicles comprising a lazy tongs signalstructure pivoted to a fixed member of the vehicle and a common handactuated means operatively connected to said structure for bothextending and contracting the latter, and for causing the same to assumeany one of a number of predetermined angular positions in a conilnonvertical plane simultaneous with the extending thereof.

1. A direction signal for motor vehicles comprising a lazy tongs signalstructure pivoted to a fixed member of the vehicle, anotherl lazy tongsstructure independent of the first named structure and adaptedto bemanually contracted and extended and being y. operatively connected tosaid signal structure and means whereby said manually actuated structuremay be manipulated to impart contracting and extending movement to thesignal structure and at the same time cause the latter to lie in anypredetermined angular setting coincident with such extension thereof.

5. A direction signal for motor vehicles comprising a lazy tongs signalstructure pivoted to a fixed member of the vehicle, another lazy tongsstructure independent of the first named structure and adapted to bemanually contracted and extended and being operatively connected to saidsignal strueture, a handle on said independent structure whereby tocontract and extend the same, and a fixed casing in which said latterstructure is moimted, said casing being provided with converging andcommunicating slots positioned at predetermined angles relative to eachother and in which the handle rides.

6. A direction signal for motor vehicles comprising a lazy tongs signalstructure pivoted to a fixed member of the vehicle, a fixed casing, alazy tongs structure independent of the signal structure, saidindependent structure compris-ing a pair ofintersecting arms pivoted inthe casing at their point of intersection, and a pair of links pivotedto certain ends of, the arms and pivotally connected to each other,operative connections between the opposite ends of the arms and thesignal structure, a handle at the pivotal connection of the links Witheach other, the casing being provided with a slot extending in the planeof a line drawn through the arm and handle pivots and kthrough which thelatter passes, branch slots communicating With the first named slot atone end thereof and at an angle thereto, and means whereby when thehandle is moved through one of the last named slots the signal structurewill be extended and positioned at a predetermined angle. c

7. A ldirection signal for motor vehicles comprising a lazy tongs signalstructure pivoted to a fixed member of the vehicle, a fixed casing, alazy tongs structure independent of the signal structure, saidindependent structure comprising a pair of intersecting arms pivoted inthe casing at their point of intersection, and a pair of links pivotedto certain ends of the arms and pivotally connected to each other,operative connections between the opposite ends of the arms and thesignal structure, a handle at the. pivotal connections of the links witheach other, the casing being provided with a slot extending in the planeof a line drawn through the arm and handle pivots and through whichl thelatter passes, branch slots communicating with the first named slot atone end thereof and at an angle thereto and a pin fixed in the casingintermediate the arm and handle pivots and projecting into the plane ofthe arms.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JACUB G. HIEB.

